


It Had to be You

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-04
Updated: 2012-08-04
Packaged: 2017-11-11 10:26:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/477549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Funny, she never noticed him noticing her when she noticed him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Had to be You

**Author's Note:**

> This came to me in my bathroom, not even joking. It’s the first time I'm writing this ship on their own but I've always loved them. It’s a bit of an AU take on Penelope…what if she had met Kevin like she met the creep who shot her.

“Excuse me, Penelope.”

She let out a sound of surprise, clutching her coffee tight when she turned and there was a man standing in front of her. She didn’t need to spill anything on the floor or her new dress.

“I'm sorry,” he backed up a bit. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I'm Kevin; Kevin Lynch.”

“I'm…oh, you already know my name.” she shook his extended hand.

“I know you from around.”

“Ahh, so my reputation precedes me.” she smiled.

“Something like that. I um…I work at Quantico.”

“Well it’s nice to meet you.”

“Thanks, you too.” Kevin took a deep breath. “I don’t do things like this very often, I don’t do them at all but I really wanted to meet you. I think you're awesome and I've been watching you for while but not in a creepy stalker kinda way more like a wallflower in the corner watching the popular girl kinda way, which unfortunately can still seem like a stalker kinda way but I swear to God I'm not.”

“OK.” Penelope replied, not sure of what else to say. But she was still smiling. She’d been coming in here to get coffee for years. She knew all the baristas and all the regular customers. She had seen Kevin Lynch before, here and there, so she mostly understood what he was trying to say. Funny, she never noticed him noticing her when she noticed him.

“Would you like to have dinner with me?” He asked. “I know that’s quite forward but how else can you do something like this? I could ask you for coffee but you'd turn me down because you're having some right now. So am I as a matter of fact.” He held up his venti half-caf Americano. “And I know we’re strangers but I'm fully prepared to accept meeting you in a well-lit place, having a nice meal, getting to know each other, and ending the evening with thumbs up or down.”

“You want to have dinner with me?”

“Yes I do.” Kevin nodded.

“Do you like Turkish food?”

“I do now.”

Penelope laughed. There was something about him, something familiar. She liked him already in that ‘I've never met you but feel comfortable with you’ kind of way. In her line of work Penelope learned she had to go with her gut. And Kevin Lynch made her gut comfortable.

“You said you work at Quantico?” she asked.

“I'm a tech analyst.” He replied.

“I'm a tech analyst.”

“I know that. And you're not _a_ tech analyst, Penelope Garcia, you're _the_ tech analyst. Your work puts the best in the world to head-hanging shame.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere.” She smiled. “I would like to have dinner. But I just want you to know that it was the thumbs up or down suggestion that really reeled me in.”

“Yes.” Kevin shook his fist in triumph. “It was a last minute addition; I wasn’t sure I was going to go there.”

“It’s good that you did. Are you heading to work?”

“No, I have the day off.”

“You get days off?”

“Rarely.” Kevin said. “I just moved into a new place and they’re delivering some things to me. It’s one of those between 10 a.m. and never deals so I needed to be around all day.”

“You're not there now.” Penelope replied.

“There are some things in life more important than credenzas.”

“You're getting a credenza?”

“I was just making a point.”

“Oh, because the credenza would've been impressive.”

“I can get a credenza.”

“It’s OK.” Penelope laughed. “I better go; I don’t want to be late. So um…”

“Take my number.” Kevin pulled a piece of paper out of his rumpled gray pants.

“You had a prepared phone number? You meant business, Mr. Lynch.”

“I knew today was the day. I like to be prepared…it’s the Boy Scout in me. By the way, you look amazing.”

Penelope wore a red wrap dress with black polka dots. It hugged all her curves and showed just enough cleavage to light a man’s imagination on fire. If that didn’t work, then the black fishnets and red peep toe heels would do the trick. When she looked in the mirror that morning, Penelope knew she was fierce. The outfit screamed Garcia and she was dressed to impress.

“Thanks. I like your shirt; its very geek chic.”

Kevin smiled. He wore his lucky purple paisley this morning. He knew that if he saw her he was going for it. Months had gone by and every time he saw her he clammed up. Talking to women wasn’t exactly his forte though he had his share of female friends. There weren't often women that grabbed his attention. 

Penelope Garcia grabbed him by the throat and wouldn’t let go. And if it wasn’t enough for her to be gorgeous, she was surely a better hacker than him. Kevin wasn’t sure what he dreamed about more, her smile or her gooey. He imagined battling her and losing. For most men that wasn’t a turn on. For him it was everything.

“So um…”

“So I’ll call you Kevin. My schedule is insane but I’ll definitely call you.”

“Great.” He smiled as he held out his hand again. “It was wonderful to meet you.”

“You ain't seen nothing yet.”

Shaking his hand, Penelope smiled and walked away. She turned to see if he was looking; sure enough he was. Wow, something told her this morning was going to be different. Penelope didn’t know if it was the first day of sunshine after days of rain or that she was wearing the new, sexy perfume that she spent too much money on but she knew something was going to happen. Kevin Lynch was definitely something.

***


End file.
